Animalia
by Sylindara
Summary: It's a privilege to find people you can trust when you're a anima. Now an ongoing series. Written for Team Battle and Character Battle 2014 on basketballpoetsociety Tumblr [plusAnima AU]
1. Prologue: The Family You Make

How many people even know +Anima? :'D

* * *

It was sheer luck that Fukui had gotten up for a piss that night, and that he had used his +anima form so he could see in the dark while he did so. His +anima mark wreathed his eyes and nose like a mask, and when his transformed, not just his eyes, but his nose gained the sensitivity of a cat's too. A cat's nose didn't have the reputation a dog's did, but as Fukui was fond of boasting, his nose could smell just as well as any dog. It certainly managed well enough that night, bringing the scents of men and their torches to him before their little abandoned shack was completely surrounded.

"Get up!" Fukui shouted, banging open the door of the shack heedlessly. There was no point to stealth, and no time for it either. "Humans are coming!"

Himuro rolled to his feet immediately, one hand already on Murasakibara's arm and dragging him along to the door until Murasakibara got his feet under him.

Fukui knew he didn't need to worry about them, instead making a beeline for Okamura and Liu. Liu was starting to sit up groggily but Okamura was still snoring on his side.

"Wake up! We need to get out of here." Fukui crouched and shook hurriedly at Okamura. At least Liu was awake enough to start for the door, already in his +anima form with their bags draped over the horse part of his back.

By the time Fukui and Okamura finally made it out, Okamura still half asleep but slowly waking up, Himuro was already on Murasakibara's back – his +anima form was particularly useless on land. Not for the first time Fukui envied Murasakibara his ability to turn completely into a bear instead of only a part of his body like the rest of them.

Okamura finally woke up enough to turn into his +anima form, using his gorilla arms to knuckle along at an awkward shuffle that Fukui knew was deceptively fast. Fukui sprang on top of Liu's horse half himself, and they were off.

Just in time, because the bravest of the humans were almost on them, waving their torches and shouting hysterically. As if the five of them were as dumb as the animal forms they could take, capable of being frightened by a little noise and light. That was humans for you. Fukui spat at one of them as Liu dashed past. Fuck you too.

They ended up sheltering in a series of caves about half an hour after their escape. Liu was panting harshly by then, even after Fukui had passed half of the bags to Okamura and the other half to Himuro on Murasakibara's back.

There was a tiny stream seeping out of a crack at the very end of the cave they had chosen. They had laid Liu down by that stream so he could get his breath back, with Okamura beside him to make sure he didn't drink too quickly and make himself sick.

Murasakibara parked himself at the entrance to the cave – still in his +anima form, it was obvious he had no intention of moving. Himuro sat down beside him, a silent pillar of support. Fukui sighed, then joined them.

They looked over at him, and Fukui triggered his +anima form in response. "Two people keeping watch are better than one."

Murasakibara growled low in his throat, but Fukui knew he didn't mind from the way he stayed absolutely still. On his other side, Himuro was already falling back into sleep now that there were two of them on guard.

It felt weird to see Himuro be so vulnerable in front of him, when he still hadn't mentioned the ring around his neck even though they could all tell how important it was to him. But he wasn't the only one; it was one of the burdens of a +anima to have a past you didn't want to talk about. Irrationally, the scar on the back of Fukui's neck gave a twinge.

Even Murasakibara had his secrets. Fukui eyed him surreptitiously. Murasakibara was the only one who had known other +anima before them, and yet he was here instead of wherever those other +anima were. Fukui had a hard time understanding why Murasakibara would ever leave the +anima he had been with, especially since he was in a zoo pretending to be a real bear when they'd met – if it wasn't for Okamura accidently letting his +anima mark show, and Murasakibara charging out of his pen to save them, he might still be there. Fukui wasn't sure he wanted to know why Murasakibara would go that far. But surely no +anima could be as bad as humans?


	2. Chordata I: A Gift from the Ocean

Some slight retcons thanks to the presence of a plot.

* * *

It's one of those rare days where they're not being chased by a single human. Where the weather is nice and clear and they don't need to brave the danger of taking shelter in a human settlement. Where the land is welcoming and sustenance is abundant. Even if they have to work for it.

Himuro slinks along the bottom of the inlet, curling his seahorse tail around the base of a clump of reeds to stop the current from sweeping him away. He's been there for most of the morning, patiently catching fish that swims close enough for him to scoop out of the water where Murasakibara waits in his +anima form, big bear paws ready to bring death.

Despite the uselessness of his +anima form on land, the rare occasions when they're by the sea reminds Himuro of how good it can be to indulge sometimes. Even if a +anima form like Liu's is so much more efficient than a seahorse normally.

Scooping up one last fish, Himuro surges up out of the water, shaking his head fitfully. On the bank, Murasakibara flips its dead body towards the others, where Fukui has been gutting and descaling them all morning before passing them along to Okamura at the smoking station.

It's not much of a smoking station, a rickety little thing they built last night when they found this isolated little inlet with the gentle, sheltering cliffs that promised safety. At least for a little while.

"How is it," Himuro asks, turning back into his human form and pulling himself out of the water. "Will that be enough?"

Fukui looks up long enough to give him a nod, but it's Okamura who replies, "It should last us for a while. We can move further inland with this much stock, then come back to the sea in a few weeks."

"Why do we have to stay away from the sea anyway," Fukui complains, deliberately not looking at Murasakibara. "It's so much easier to find food to eat by the beach, and there're less humans too."

"It's less troublesome to stay away from the sea," Murasakibara replies. He's turned back into his human form too, back in his clothes and stretching out on a large flat rock like he doesn't have a care in the world. Like every other time one of them has asked this question, he does not explain any further.

Fukui turns away with a disgusted sigh, kneeling over the water to clean their one precious knife now that all the fish has been gutted. It is not the +anima way to ask after each other's pasts, because then you must reveal your own. No +anima has a happy past, that is how you become a +anima. Himuro knows this certainty in his bones, they all do, but he is the only one to know that it isn't the complete truth.

But he cannot ask, he dare not ask why Murasakibara fears the ocean so much when his +anima form is a beast that cannot be found by the sea. If he asks, then Himuro must explain his own form, his darkness, and his despair. It is the same for the others, who all have their own scars they bear – whether physical like the harsh marks that run down Liu's flank, or mental like the way Fukui has never had a good night's sleep since they've known him – scars they dare not expose, and so they do not ask. Because that is the +anima way.

Liu suddenly dashes towards them, his shouts of warning driving Himuro out of his thoughts. "A ship! There's a ship!"

"Humans?" Fukui asks sharply, the +anima mark that spreads across his cheeks twisting his face into a feline cast as he turns into his +anima form.

"No," Liu's reply is thoughtful, "I think I recognise that flag; I think it's a +anima ship."

Fukui raises an eyebrow. "A group of +anima large enough, and foolhardy enough, to pilot a ship."

"One that sails on the sea, not a river," Okamura adds. "It's gotta be Kaijou."

Himuro does not recognise the name, but he did not expect to – not when his time in this land is still so few. Because of that, he is the only one not looking out to the sea, hoping for a view of the ship. That is why he is the only to see Murasakibara slant a glance at Okamura at the word 'Kaijou'. Murasakibara, who cares about nothing and knows nothing – in that deliberate way only someone who works very hard at it is capable of – finally looks like something has caught his interest, even if only for a moment.

Himuro doesn't get time to think about it though, because picking their way over the rocks from the direction Liu came from are five figures. The one in front has an air of leadership around him, and once they are close enough Himuro can see jagged edges of a +anima mark swooping down from his forehead. On either side of him are tall figures bearing their own +anima marks in the open, the slightly bulky figure has them on the backs of his hands while the slim one has them streaking out from his back onto his shoulders – from the positioning Himuro guesses claws for the bulkier one and wings for the other. The one slightly lagging behind the rest does not seem to have his mark somewhere visible, but it's the blond one loping easily beside the leader that catches Himuro's attention.

The blond wears his sleeveless shirt wide open. Completely exposing his chest and the +anima mark emblazoned over his heart. The exact same +anima mark as Murasakibara, in the exact same place.

"Murasakicchi!" The blond sparkles at them, eyes only on Murasakibara. "It _is_ you! I heard that there was a bear +anima travelling with a group, but I didn't think it could really be you, you hate being in a pack! But it _is_ you!"

"Kise," is all Murasakibara says in response, more of a growl than a word. "Go away."

"Aw, don't be like that." Kise pouts winsomely at him, as if he doesn't realise the position he's in. "I came to find you!" Behind him, the leader-like one inclines his head at the rest of them and shrugs an apology.

"I don't care," Murasakibara says, still in that same hard tone. "Leave."

"But Akashicchi-"

"I said leave!" Murasakibara roars, finally reaching his limits. Himuro wonders who this 'Akashicchi' is, that he can cause such a reaction. As he watches, Murasakibara ripples into his +anima form, clothes ripping wastefully as they fall off his frame.

Across from him, caught by surprise, the members of Kaijou assume their +anima forms too. The full head of antlers jutting from the leader's head explaining the position of his mark, while the claws and wings spring out of the other two like Himuro had predicted. The one whose mark he hadn't seen crouches now on what seems to be canine legs – from the way Fukui's lip curls as he looks at him. But it is Kise who has Himuro's full attention again. Kise who has the same +anima mark as Murasakibara, and who has now turned into an animal in full – just like Murasakibara. Something that should be impossible for a +anima. The bristling fur is too pale, but Himuro recognises the wolf for what it is – even if he is looking very doggish as he whines pitifully at Murasakibara.

Pulled along by the rash of transformations, Okamura, Fukui, and Liu have done the same. Leaving them in a deadlock with both sides at their most dangerous. Only Himuro is still in his human form, and even he finds himself measuring the distance to the sea and wondering if he can manage swimming out to their ship and sabotaging it.

Kaijou's leader is the one who finally breaks the deadlock, turning back into his human form and saying sharply, "Kise, fall back."

Kise whines a final time, then turns back into a human. The other members of Kaijou do the same, the one who had the claws handing Kise spare clothes to change into.

"I'm Kasamatsu," the leader introduces himself, holding out a hand, "sorry about that."

"O-oh," Okamura replies a little doubtfully, but turns back into his human form as well and takes the hand. Fukui and Liu follow his lead, leaving Murasakibara the only one still in his +anima form.

Kasamatsu ignores the slight, his whole attention on Okamura. "Pay no attention to Kise; we haven't come from Rakuzan. You have nothing to worry about."

Even Himuro has heard of Rakuzan, the jewel of the Teikou Empire, the seat of culture that has lasted 3000 years. The pride of humanity, and where they flock the thickest.

Murasakibara seats himself down heavily on the ground, still in his bear form, and snorts in a remarkably human manner.

It is Fukui who asks for all of them. "What the hell is going on?"


	3. Chordata II: All for one and one for all

Araki Masako was a natural-born leader, someone easy to look up to, someone you wanted to shoulder your responsibilities. She was also someone Liu was greatly indebted to; the one who took him in when he first came to these unfamiliar shores, gave him guidance, and led to him to Fukui and Okamura.

But life as a +anima had inured Liu to the realities of human betrayal, so he wasn't even surprised to learn that she was a genius scientist, part of the JBA organisation experimenting on +anima and the creation of artificial +anima. At least she didn't seem to have any interest in experimenting on him.

Fukui sighed at that sentiment. "You're too young to be so jaded. Where's your belief in the goodness of the world?" He was sitting a little away from the fire, curled up against Okamura's side, the same position he had been in ever since the members of Kaijou had left after leaving behind their message.

Liu shrugged. "Probably lost it when I lost my humanity." Sometimes Fukui forgot he was supposed to see people as just targets for his hoaxes and pranks and acted nice, like he cared. Liu liked it when Fukui showed that part of himself, so he tried to keep quiet whenever it happened so Fukui wouldn't notice and stop doing it.

"You know I don't like it when you say it like that," Okamura grumbled. "You don't lose anything when you become a +anima, and someday you can become a human again. It's not just an urban legend; I know it can happen."

"Yeah," Murasakibara suddenly cut in, crouched as close to the fire as possible, "Masako-chin was a +anima. All the top scientists working for JBA used to be before they became human again. That's how they know so much."

There was a small silence as everyone tried to process this new information. "That's…wow," Himuro said weakly. "How many more secret identities are there? I'm not even going to be surprised if you guys all have secret identities too."

"Uh…" Okamura scrubbed a hand through his hair. "About that…"

Fukui shot up, leaning slightly away from Okamura and staring at him like he was mad. Liu was more surprised that Fukui was surprised. He thought Fukui and Okamura knew everything about each other.

"What do you know about STRKY…?" Okamura was very deliberately not looking in Fukui's direction.

The rest of them looked at each other. "I have no secret pasts or identities whatsoever," Liu offered.

"We might be the only ones," Fukui groused.

"For a group of +anima, two out of five isn't bad," Murasakibara drawled. "The question is what now. I'm guessing STRKY is how Kaijou found us."

Okamura nodded solemnly. "If Kasamatsu thinks this is important enough to approach us, then I think we owe it to him to go to Akashi and hear them out."

Murasakibara growled once, low in his throat, then slumped down to the ground. Himuro, who had been leaning on him, was caught by surprise – falling on top of him. "Atsushi?"

"I would have gone anyway." Murasakibara scowled down at the ground. "Because it's Aka-chin doing the asking. And he knows that so he gave you a reason to go too."

"That's very nice of him," Fukui said suspiciously. "Now what I expected from what I've heard of him – the heavenly emperor and ruler of three of the Uncrowned."

"Aka-chin isn't nice," Murasakibara said bluntly. "Don't underestimate him or you will regret it."

"We won't," Himuro said seriously.

No one suggested not going. Not when Murasakibara and Okamura had made up their minds; going separate ways wasn't an option. That too was something Liu was inured to as a +anima.


End file.
